Is that a black swan I see before me? Cheap oil has strange consequences
This oil price slump is turning into a ‘black swan’: one of those economic events that seem to come from…
How to keep your corporate reputation: forget the CSR, just get the basics right
A theme of this autumn has been conversations about corporate reputation and how it is guarded or lost. To name…
Qatar’s bid for Canary Wharf fills me with foreboding, even if they deserve each other
I’ve written before of a ‘curse of Qatar’ that might explain misfortunes attending the Gulf state’s UK investments, of which…
Hotels for dogs
The first time I checked in to a French hotel with a golden retriever — his name was Gregory, predecessor…
What happens in Vegas… and why I’m happy it doesn’t happen at home
I didn’t realise that the Rialto Bridge has a moving walkway and muzak, that the gondolas beneath it float on…
Our prosperity is rising, but our start-up entrepreneurs need much more fertiliser
This issue includes the new Spectator Money supplement, in which I hope you’ll find a bouquet of stimulating ideas. The…
Italy takes the stress-test booby prize as the old Spanish fox emerges the winner
Continuing last week’s theme, it was the Italian banks — with nine fails, four still requiring capital injections — that…
Remember the Negroni Index? At last I’ve found a market that never stops rising
This dispatch comes to you from Venice — where I arrived at sunset on the Orient Express. More of that…
Stormy October: Germany stumbles, shares fall and bankers take another bashing
October is always a turbulent month, and I’m feeling uneasy about this one. The FTSE100 index, which looked set to…
Wonga lent too easily at shocking rates, but it was often the borrowers who lied
‘Payday Lady is not trading at this time,’ says her website, sounding a little like La Dame aux camélias. Indeed (since…
Will Osborne’s tilt against Double Dutch tax dodgers play into Farage’s hands?
George Osborne’s promise to crack down on multinational companies’ avoidance of UK taxes by the use of impenetrable devices such…
Is the US using bank fines to bring allies into line against Russia?
Here’s one for all you conspiracy nuts out there, prompted by readers’ comments on my recent item about whether BP…
Botín’s not-so-dark secret of banking success: simple rules, smart technology and team spirit
Four years ago, I wrote that I knew no dark rumours about Santander, the rising force in UK high street…
BP has been punished enough for Macondo, but is US justice really anti-British?
I should declare two connections before I start offering opinions about the latest US judgment against BP relating to the ‘Macondo’…
Applause for the Beeb’s new leading lady – but did the male runner-up deserve such a kicking?
Hats off to Rona Fairhead, the former Financial Times executive who will succeed Lord Patten as chairman of the BBC…
Europe hopes for magic from Draghi but should listen more carefully to his words
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi secured a place in history by his demonstration, on 26 July 2012, of the…
You don’t have to be a left-wing think tank to believe the bosses’ pay boom is unhealthy
The FTSE100 index stands precisely where it did in the first week of December 1999. Whichever way you look at…
My summer advice for graduate job-seekers: try the City last, and steer well clear of PR
August is the season for conversation about career choices. Every holiday party seems to include new graduates or next year’s…
A challenge for Centrica’s new boss: persuade the public we need to get fracking
Iain Conn, who will succeed Sam Laidlaw as chief executive of Centrica, would have been a dead cert for the…
Sanctions rarely work, but they might make oligarchs whisper in Putin’s ear
‘Sanctions,’ said Kofi Annan, ‘are a necessary middle ground between war and words.’ Neither the EU nor the US will…
I’m celebrating Glasgow’s Games as my forecast comes true at last
‘Perhaps I should shift my prediction to 23 July 2014,’ I wrote in April 2012. ‘That’s the opening of the…
Day by day, we should keep an eye on the trouble spots of European banking
‘1914: Day by Day’, the Radio 4 series by the historian Margaret MacMillan, is a gripping reminder that significant global…
Gold-fixing was never like match-fixing but its days must surely be numbered
In a season obsessed with sport and personal misbehaviour — separately or in combination — the word ‘fixing’ immediately brings…
Killarney
Here’s a question for a Guinness-sponsored pub quiz: who or what is a ‘jarvie’? The answer is the gypsy driver…
North star
There are festivals of everything, everywhere. So why get excited about the Ryedale Festival (11–27 July) apart from the fact…
